Up until the early 1980s, bicycle wheels had high spoke counts of, for example, 32 spokes for a front wheel and 40 spokes for a rear wheel. Such high spoke counts provided close spoke spacing. As a result, the failure of one or two spokes did not result in the bicycle wheel wobbling or becoming unridable.
After the early 1980s, bicycle wheels with lower spoke-counts were marketed as being an upgraded or high performance bicycle wheel. Bicycle wheels with low spokes, for example, 28, 24 or even 16 spokes, result in higher spoke tension and larger spoke spacing. As a result, when a single spoke breaks on a low spoke-count bicycle wheel, the wheel instantly goes out of alignment due to uneven tension and becomes unridable.
Avid bicyclists train with high performance bicycles that have the low spoke-count wheels. Such bicyclists ride long distances in a single training session and often in locations remote from assistance. Thus, a spoke failure can result in a bicyclist being stranded or having to walk the bicycle a long distance.
There is a need in the art for a kit and device for making a field or emergency repair to a failed spoke of a bicycle wheel. There is also a need in the art for method of making such a repair.